Grant dollars from the Regional Prosperity Initiative (RPI) within the Department of Technology Management and Budget (DTMB) will once again flow from Lansing into the Central Upper Peninsula in 2017 thanks to a grant request from Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development (CUPPAD).

Approximately $271,000 will support nine high priority projects across CUPPAD’s six-county region that include 93 units of government. Projects were determined and developed over the course of several months by an active group from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors representing economic development, workforce development, talent, higher and adult education and other local and regional stakeholders.

By design, RPI projects are important for their ability to foster collaboration, regional prosperity and community development. They include both the launching of new initiatives (Fruit and Vegetable Processing Feasibility Study, Entrepreneurial Award and U.P. Arts Alliance contributions, web site technical assistance and development to local units of government) as well as the continuation of highly successful ones from previous years ($5,000 Place Making Grants available to townships, villages and county governments to improve public spaces, Career Tech Education support, and providing continued assistance to local economic development organizations).

Developed by Governor Snyder in 2014, this will be CUPPAD’s third year of successfully participating in the voluntary, competitive RPI grant program. Recognizing that by bringing multiple sectors together toward common goals for the economy, the RPI can leverage funding, resources, and solutions to large scale challenges difficult for one organization to accomplish independently. The funding is considered integral to CUPPAD and similar regional planning organizations across the state to provide financial support to implement a variety of initiatives across the region and grow new service delivery efforts that would normally be cost prohibitive. The Place Making grant program is an example of launching a new service from CUPPAD’s menu thanks to this funding that was so well-received, it hopefully finds a permanent role in CUPPAD’s community development tool box.

Likely to roll out in early March 2017 with the aforementioned projects, this funding will prove to lead to demonstrated results in the Central Upper Peninsula which can be followed at http://www.centralupdashboard.org